When Lu Xiaotang came back from the city, Old Chen followed him in a bullock cart. As soon as he entered the house, Old Chen said, "Xu Zhiqing, your cousin bought you a cart of coal and asked me to bring it over for you." When Xu Ning heard Old Chen's voice, she came out of the house. As soon as she saw Lu Xiaotang parked his bicycle at the door, she started to move the coal down from the bullock cart.
Xu Ning said, "Brother Lu, why did you buy so much coal again? I still have a lot from the last time I bought it."
Then he said to Old Chen, "Grandpa Chen, please help me. I'll have lunch here."
Old Chen smiled and said, "Xu Zhiqing, you are too polite. I won't eat. When I entered the village just now, I saw my wife. She said that the meal was ready and asked me to go back early."
"Oh, Grandpa Chen, you are so lucky. Grandma Chen prepares meals and waits for you at the village entrance every day." Xu Ning joked, and old Chen couldn't stop smiling.
When Old Chen left, Xu Ning gave him some fruit candies and asked him to give them to Erdan.
Lu Xiaotang said to her after she sent the people away, "You can't use coal blocks to burn the stove. The fire is small and it wastes coal, and there is a lot of smoke. I will make these into coal balls for you this afternoon. It is convenient to burn and the fire is big. Add one every night before going to bed, and it will last you through the night. You can add another one when you cook the next morning.
Xu Ning asked him to come into the house to eat first, and put the stewed chicken soup, a pot of spicy and sour potato shreds, and steamed buns on the table.
The four of them worked all afternoon to finish making the coal briquettes. Lu Xiaotang moved the cabbages under the eaves to the side, piled all the coal briquettes under the eaves, and covered them with oil paper.
Xu Ning put the pheasant soup he had stewed in the afternoon in his backpack and fried a piece of pork intestines, and let him go. The three siblings sat on the kang and started to eat. They had been busy all afternoon and were already hungry. Although they were not the main force, those who did odd jobs would also be hungry.
Xu Ning washed the dishes and came back to see that the two little ones had fallen asleep on the kang. She took a book and sat there reading while waiting for Lu Xiaotang.
Lu Xiaotang came back early today. Xu Ning had just read two pages of his book when he pushed the door open. Xu Ning told him that there was hot water on the stove and asked him to soak his feet to make himself feel comfortable.
Lu Xiaotang nodded and asked her to go to bed early.
The next day, Xu Ning got up very early. Yesterday, when Lu Xiaotang and Xu An were playing with coal balls, they said that they would go hunting in the mountains today. There was half a lamb leg at home. Xu Ning planned to drink lamb soup in the morning to warm up his body when he went up the mountain.
After the meal, the two of them left with their backpacks. Xu Ning took out the dried wild vegetables and soaked them, then went to knead the dough, planning to have dumplings for lunch.
Xu Ning took out two pieces of meat from the meat jar and chopped them into stuffing. He then chopped up the soaked wild vegetables, added various seasonings, and started making dumplings. He made more than 200 dumplings in the whole morning.
Xu Ning saw that it was already past 12 o'clock and the two had not arrived yet, so he cooked half of the dumplings and sent them to the cowshed. As soon as he reached the door of the cowshed, he saw Lu's father coming back with water. Xu Ning did not go in, but gave the dumplings to Lu's father and went home.
When the two hadn't returned by one o'clock, Xu Ning and Xu Mo cooked for them. Just as they finished eating, they heard the door open. Xu Ning immediately opened the door and went out.
Xu An was walking in front with a backpack on his back, and Lu Xiaotang was pulling a wild boar behind him. Xu Ning ran over to help, but Lu Xiaotang didn't let her pull the boar and asked her to close the door.
Xu Ning closed the door and immediately scooped water for the two to wash their hands. Xu Mo saw the two coming back, so he went to the kitchen and started to light the fire.
Xu Ning cooked a pot of dumplings and asked the two to eat first. The two were so hungry that they didn't have time to talk. They sat at the table, picked up their chopsticks and started eating.
Xu Ning looked at the wild boar and saw a dent on its head. It was much bigger than the one Uncle Lu killed last time. It was estimated to weigh more than 100 kilograms. There were several pheasants and rabbits in the basket that Xu An carried back.
Xu Ning first put the pheasant in a basin, added water to the pot, and asked Xu Mo to light the fire.
After the two of them had finished their meal, Xu Ning had already started to clean the pheasants. Lu Xiaotang spread an oilcloth on the ground, put the wild boar on it, and peeled off the skin with a knife. He cut the meat into small pieces, washed the pig's offal and put it away.
After everything was cleaned up, it was time to cook dinner. Xu Ning boiled the wild boar oil and put it in a small jar, which weighed about five or six pounds. He would ask Lu Xiaotang to send it to the cowshed later. He also chopped the wild boar ribs into small pieces, cut a few radishes, and made a dish of ribs and radishes. He also simmered a pot of rice on the stove.
It was still light when dinner was ready. Xu An went to the cowshed and saw some educated youth drawing water from the well.
After being busy for an afternoon, everyone was very hungry, so Xu Ning served four bowls of rice and a pot of pork ribs and roasted radish. They ate first and then sent the food to the cowshed later.
By the time they had finished their meal, it was already dark. Lu Xiaotang carried the dishes and Xu Ning carried a small jar of wild boar oil to the cowshed. Xu Ning went back first, and Lu Xiaotang stayed there to chat with his parents.
When Xu Ning got home, he went to the kitchen to check. Lu Xiaotang was leaving the day after tomorrow, so he decided to take something for him. The roe deer meat was salted, and he would cut it into thin strips and roast it into jerky tomorrow.
I took out two large pieces of wild boar meat, cut them into strips, and marinated them with salt and soy sauce. I will roast them tomorrow. I also sewed two bags and put some pine nuts and hazelnuts in them tomorrow.
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